Received call that my payday loan request was approved. Caller said minimum loan was $1000. I said I wanted to borrow $2000. I was transferred to "Mark Chapman" who had a heavy foreign accent. I have previously worked in a call center, and I know that we do not use our real names. I was instructed to send a good faith payment of $200 by Western Union Money in Minutes due to the fact that I had poor credit. It was to be sent to a Daryl Lasola in the Philippines. Foolishly, I did so. When I called Mr. Chapman back with the Western Union number I was told that the transfer could not go through because I did not have my middle initial on the transfer. He said that I would have to send an additional $200 and that the $400 would be deposited in my bank along with the loan proceeds. I did not have the funds at the time, so I told him I would have to do it at another time. What really set off the red flags was when Mark Chapman told me to use another Western Union location and not to discuss the transaction with anyone else. I challenged him on why I needed to send more money and accused him of running a scam. Of course he said that he wasn't. More research revealed complaints associated with the phone number 352-702-9891. I called back a few days later and told him that I would not be sending any additional funds, and that I wanted to withdraw the application and have my money returned. Of course, he insisted that what he was doing was perfectly legal and that a thousand people had gotten their loans and that I should ignore a few comments.
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